Shot spotter

ABSTRACT

A head mounted device is used to train the shooter in basketball shooting. The device is mounted on the forehead of the user and has a flexible pointer which is adjusted relative to the basket rim to indicate the line-of-shot. With the line-of-shot now indicated, the shooter now gives the basketball the required impetus and accuracy to reach the basket.

nite States atent Rogers 1451 June 20, 1972 SHOT SPOTTER [72] Inventor:Kathryn C. Rogers, 1410 S. 15th St. Hbg.

Park Apts. 0202, Harrisburg, Pa. 17104 [22] Filed: Jan. 28, 1971 [21]Appl.No.: 110,680

52 us. c1 ..33/46, 273/15, 273 54, 273/183 511 1m. (:1. ..A63b 69/00 58Field ofSearch ..273 1.5 R, 1.5 A, 54 BC, 54 B, 273/54 D, 190 A; 33/460, 46 1=, 46 AT [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,169,1881/1916 Peck ..33/46G 1,459,705 6/1923 Bullock ..273/190 A 3,029,5174/1962 Frey ..273/54 BC 3,264,002 8/1966 Palumbo ..33/46 G 3,437,3394/1969 Starck ..273/l83 B Primary Examiner-Robert B. HullAttorney-Clifiord B. Price [5 7] ABSTRACT A head mounted device is usedto train the shooter in basketball shooting. The device is mounted onthe forehead of the user and has a flexible pointer which is adjustedrelative to the basket rim to indicate the line-of-shot. With thelinc-of-shot now indicated, the shooter now gives the basketball therequired impetus and accuracy to reach the basket.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PAT'E'N'TEBJuno m2 3.670.417

7 INVENTOR KATHRYN C. ROGERS WWW ATTORNEY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention The invention is directed to a device fortraining basketball players and, more particularly, to a player worndevice to indicate the line-of-shot between the player and the basket.

2. Description of the Prior Art Normally, practice devices forbasketball players have, in the past, consisted of attachments for thebasket to affect the manner in which the ball reacted relative to thebasket. Some devices were used by the player, but these were mainlygloves which the player wore and these would help in his shooting asshown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,845,628. Generally, the improvements were madein a shooters ability to make baskets during shooting merely by havingthe player repeatedly shoot the basketball at the basket. By theconstant trial and error method above, the shooter learned how to shootthe ball at the basket with some degree of accuracy. Often the five manbasketball team consisted of one or two inherently good shooters withthe other players feeding the ball to these good shooters. Little effortwas spent in developing all the team members as good shooters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention herein is a device and its use intraining a basketball player in shooting baskets. The device consists ofa cushioned pad with an elastic band which holds the pad in placecentered on the forehead of the user. A flexible pointer has its one endfastened to the pad. The pointer has a flexible portion about midway ofits length so that the pointer may be bent and orientated. On the otherend of the pointer there is located a small disc or spotter.

In use the shooter/user positions the device on his forehead. The userfaces straight ahead toward the basket and does not raise his head toface toward the basket. The user then raises his eyes only or uses hisperipheral vision upward to see that the spotter is positioned relativeto the spot on the rim of the basket directly opposite the spotter. Theflexibility of the pointer enables the user to adjust the spotterrelative to the rim. This adjustment is made without moving the headfrom its straight ahead position. The user thereafter sees the spotteron the rim of the basket and the entire portion of the flexible pointerdefines the line-of-shot; that is, the flight path the ball shouldfollow from the shooter to the basket. The shooter then must propel theball with sufficient force and accuracy to follow the Iine-of-shot andgo the distance between the shooter and the basket to secure a good shotin the basket.

One object of the device herein is to train players to shoot basketswithout the lifting of their head upward toward the basket to determinewhether or not he is in position to shoot. This lifting of the head is asignal to a good defenseman to set himself for a pending shot.Therefore, the device herein trains one not to telegraph his shots bylifting his head prior to shootmg.

Another object of the device herein is to train players to score basketsby shots straight through the basket without the banking of the ballfrom the backboard. There is a great tendency to teach players to bankshots. Therefore, there is crowding under and in front of the basketbecause most players must bank their shots from this area. With thedevice herein one can shoot from further out on the playing floor andstill score well.

Finally, one can use the device herein to train himself and the deviceherein provides one with consistently good training methods by which totrain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a top view of the shotspotter device; and FIG. II is a view of the device in use by abasketball player standing to the lefi side of the basket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The invention herein is a devicewhich trains a basketball player to shoot consistently good shots fromanywhere within shooting range on the ball court. The device 2 consistsof a cushioned pad 4 which has fastened to its ends, the ends of anelastic cord 6. The cord holds the pad against the forehead of the userof the device 2 (see FIG. II). The pad may be made of a vinyl materialwith a foam rubber backing to be worn next to the forehead.

Positioned in the center of the pad 4 and, therefore, in the center ofthe forehead of the user of the device 2 is a shot pointer 8. The pad 4has a hole 10 in the center thereof. A flanged cup 12 is placed in thehole 10. The flange of the element 12 is positioned on the side of thepad 4 which rests against the forehead of the user of the device 2. Thecup portion of the element 12 extends beyond the front surface of thepad 4. A Washer 14 is placed around the forwardly extending part of thecup portion so that element 12 is held fast to the pad 4. One end of thepointer 8 is inserted in the cup portion of the element 12 and thisholds the pointer in position relative to thecenter of the pad 4 and,therefore, the center of the forehead of the user of the device 2.

The pointer 8 is composed of four parts and has a length of about4%inches. The first section 16 is fastened to the cup 12, while theother end of the section is fastened to a flexible portion 18. Thesecond section 20 is also connected to the flexible portion 18 which isthe third part of the pointer assembly. The flexible portion permits themovement of the second section 20 relative to the first section 16 and,more particularly, permits the movement of the outer end 22 of secondsection 20 relative to the spot on the rim directly opposite theshooter. On the end 22 of section 20 there is placed the fourth part,the disc or spotter 24 which is similar in structure to that of flangedcap 12. It is the need to move this spotter 24 relative to the initialline of vision position of the basketball shooter toward the spot on therim opposite the spotter 24 that necessitates the provision of theflexible section 18 between sections 16 and 20. The adjustment of thespotter to the rim is made initially before playing and will not bechanged during play unless accidentally knocked out of adjustment duringthe playing. Once the initial adjustment is properly made, one makes allshots with that setting and shoots when the spotter is toward the spoton the rim.

The device described above is utilized in the following manner. The userof the device positions it on his head with the pad held, by the elasticband, on his forehead. The pad is positioned on the forehead so that thepointer 8 extends from the center of the forehead and most of thepointer is visible to the user of the device. The user/shooter facesstraight ahead toward the direction of the basket, as shown in FIG. II,which direction of facing is shown by line 26. The shooter does notraise his head so that he is facing directly at the basket, but he isfacing at some point directly below the basket. The shooter raises hiseyes only or uses his peripheral vision upward to see the spotter 24 onthe end of the pointer 8. The second section 20 of the pointer isadjusted upward so that the spotter 24 appears to register with the spot28 directly opposite on the rim of the basketball basket. In otherwords, the line of vision 30 of the shooter extends in a straight linefrom his eyes along section 16, the spotter 24 and on to the spot 28indicated on the basket rim. The portion of the pointer 8 which theshooter now sees defines the vertical plane containing the flight pathdirection the ball should follow from the shooter to the basket. Theactual flight path of the ball is an arcuate path 32 which terminates inthe basket just behind the spot 28 on the rim where the shooter appearsto see the spotter 24. The actual flight path of the ball travels in thesame direction as the lineof-shot which is defined for the shooter bythe spot pointer affixed to his forehead.

Once the flight path direction is defined by the pointer 8, the shooterthen must propel the ball with sufficient force and accuracy to followthat direction and enter the basket. The shooter aims to place the ballin the basket at a point just behind the spot where the spotter 24appears relative to the rim. With the device herein the shooter need notlimit himself to one side or spot on the floor where he can bank theball off the backboard into the basket. The shooter can now learn toshoot from positions on the floor all around the basket. The deviceherein teaches the shooter to shoot the swish (ball entering the basketwithout touching the backboard). This does not mean that the backboardshould not be used at all, but it does mean that the shooter can learn,by using the device herein, that he need not limit his effectiveness byalways positioning himself only at a certain on-court spot from which hecan bank the ball into the basket. Finally, by using the device herein,the shooter will learn to shoot baskets without the lifting of his headtoward the basket and thereby telegraph to the defenseman that he isabout to shoot. Since the spotter 24 is initially positioned relative tothe rim without the head lifted toward the basket and all shotsthereafter are to be made with the spotter placed relative to the rim toget the line-of-shot, the head will not be raised for shooting.

The method herein for the training of one to shoot a basketball at thebasket is in no way limited to the specific device disclosed herein, butmay be practiced with comparable or equivalent type devices.

What is claimed is:

l. A basketball training device for shooting the basketball at thebasket, comprising, a head band, means for fastening the head band tothe forehead of the one shooting the basketball, a pointer fastened tothe head band and held by the head band centrally of the forehead of theone shooting the basketball, said pointer being composed of two shortstraight sections connected together by a flexible section, one end ofone short section being fastened to the head band, the other end of saidone short section being connected to the flexible section, one end ofthe second short section being connected to the flexible section and theother end of said second short section having affixed thereto a spotterin the form of a disc.

2. A method of training to shoot a basketball at the basket using atraining device which positions a flexible pointer centrally of theforehead of the shooter, said pointer having a disc on its end oppositefrom the end of the pointer affixed to the forehead of the shooter, thesteps comprising; facing straight ahead in the direction of the basket,but not face upward toward the basket, adjusting the disc on the end ofthe flexible pointer upward so that is appears to register with the spoton the rim of the basket directly opposite while keeping the head level,and shooting the basketball toward the basket in the vertical planedefined by the pointer when the disc appears to register with the spoton the rim directly opposite the spotter.

1. A basketball training device for shooting the basketball at thebasket, comprising, a head band, means for fastening the head band tothe forehead of the one shooting the basketball, a pointer fastened tothe head band and held by the head band centrally of the forehead of theone shooting the basketball, said pointer being composed of two shortstraight sections connected together by a flexible section, one end ofone short section being fastened to the head band, the other end of saidone short section being connected to the flexible section, one end ofthe second short section being connected to the flexible section and theother end of said second short section having affixed thereto a spotterin the form of a disc.
 2. A method of training to shoot a basketball atthe basket using a training device which positions a flexible pointercentrally of the forehead of the shooter, said pointer having a disc onits end opposite from the end of the pointer affixed to the forehead ofthe shooter, the steps comprising; facing straight ahead in thedirection of the basket, but not face upward toward the basket,adjusting the disc on the end of the flexible pointer upward so that itappears to register with the spot on the rim of the basket directlyopposite while keeping the head level, and shooting the basketballtoward the basket in the vertical plane defined by the pointer when thedisc appears to register with the spot on tHe rim directly opposite thespotter.